1723 Part of the Main Island of Shetland
By: Captain Greenvile (or Greenville) Collins
Date: 1723 (published) London
Dimensions: 17.75 x 22 inches (45 x 56 cm)
This decorative copperplate nautical sea chart was part of the work commissioned by Charles II of England when Samuel Pepys was Secretary to the Admiralty. The work was to chart the coasts of Great Britain, and resulted in an atlas entitled Great Britain’s Coasting Pilot, which was the first such atlas to be published by an Englishman. More than twenty editions of the atlas were published in the 18th century.
This chart features the seas in the area of the Shetland Islands. Rhumb lines radiate from a large number of points, creating a grid to assist the cartographer in measuring distance and in more accurately measuring plotting various points on the chart. While the charts were not completely accurate they offered better guidance than most earlier ones. The compass rose orients the chart west, with Shetland Island itself positioned at the top of the map. The chart is embellished with a title cartouche featuring putti and heraldry, and below it is a distance legend.
Condition: Map is in B condition with some faint damp staining and offsetting. Print impression is dark and margins are full.
Inventory #12393
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